How to reset Firmware Password? iMac, Lion, 10.7.3

hey

i bought this mac and it turns out to be stolen. it showed me the "find my mac". so i decided to do a NVRAM reset, but it turns out there is a password.

what do i do?

what will apple say if i tell them this?

any solution manually or do i take it to the apple store?

i paid $900, will it get confiscated ?

I have to say, moweida, I agree with Geek1337 – however I see where you're coming from. You've probably never found yourself in this situation before, so your first thought is about the money you spent and not wanting to get your new computer taken from you. However, you're failing to realize that the original owner is probably thinking the same thing – except he or she probably paid quite a bit more for the computer when they bought it. Put yourself in their shoes – wouldn't you want someone to get your computer back to you if they came across it, even if they paid for it?

The bottom line is that you've purchased stolen property, and you should alert the authorities to this as soon as possible. Do the right thing and make a reasonable effort to get that person's computer back to them. Be the change you want to see in the world, and you'll be happy you were if the same thing ever happens to you.

I Believe that by now you already solved the problem, but I am just gonna post all the way.

You have never set up a Firmware password. It is there because you tried the iCloud feature "Find my mac" and tried to lock it remotely using OS X Mountain Lion. I did the same, and guess what. There was a bug recently, the bug caused the Lock my mac function to lock the firmware in your mac, not the actual mac itself. So it does not require password to start your mac as it should require, it requires password to make any changes on the firmware itself.

"The only way to disable the password is to take your mac to a Retail Store" they say, but if they can do it we can too. We just don't know how.

The password you need if you still don't know is that 4-digit password you set when you locked the mac remotely.

See if this helps: MacBook Air (Late 2010) and later, MacBook Pro (Early 2011), iMac (Mid 2011 and later), Mac mini (Mid 2011)- Recovering a lost firmware password

Removing RAM should work but you must first disconnect the power cable, remove all the RAM, wait at least five minutes before reinstalling it.

ResetFirmwarePassword wrote:

If it does not help, I'm gonna deassemble the iMac, and remove the battery

to reset the BIOS and assemble again.

Mac's don't have BIO's and there is no battery. Mac's are not generic PC's

You'll ruin the machine opening it up, Apple has placed a lot of trickbags inside that require education to open and put back just to prevent internal tampering.

Do all what Kappy says but I think you need to flush the PRAM and SMC too.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3046

No DVD included when I bought it.

That sounds as if your computer was bought recently, and shipped with Lion. The previously effective "physical access" methods may no longer work on newer model Macs.

See this article from last year:

Firmware password security improved on new MacBook Air & Pro

which includes:

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It's possible that as newer Macs are released, they too will have the enhanced security that Apple has provided to the current MacBook Air and Pro lines.

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And from the recently updated support article mentioned earlier:

MacBook Air (Late 2010) and later, MacBook Pro (Early 2011) and later, iMac (Mid 2011) and later, Mac mini (Mid 2011): Recovering a lost firmware password

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Only Apple retail stores or Apple Authorized Service Providers can unlock these computers protected by a firmware password.

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To fix the issue like this, the only recommendation I can give you is to make an appointment locally at an Apple Retail Store, or Apple Authorized Service Provider and ask them if they can reset the firmware password.

This would be the only recommendation I can give out, you will have to go to an ACMT certified tech, unless you're ACMT Certified. If you are, then you should know how to do it using your resources 🙂

Thanks for the answer. I had that same bug. I knew I'd never set a firmware password before, and I had forgot about trying that lock feature on Find My Mac months ago. I typed in the four digit code, instead of my admin password, and voila!

omg. when u said 4-digit password. i immedietly knew what my password was! thank you so so much. disabled that crappy firmware password.

btw i indeed used find my mac. stupid bugs

update: you can change/remove the firmware password. you need to have a mountain lion boot disk and the utility is located in the utilities folder

hello, i have a macbook air that i bought off a guy on the street and it has the 4digit passcode lock which i do not know,,,,is there a way to get past the passcode to maybe reset the computer to factory settings. thanks for your ideas

Of course not. Prove you own it in the form of a valid receipt from a reputable dealer or directly from Apple and they'll help you unlock it. Otherwise, you have an expensive brick and a lesson in not buying items like this for cash off the street. Had you gotten a similar item through an eBay seller, you can get your money back on that, but not from "Joe Somebody" you met at a coffee shop to hand over cash for the item.

Ok come here and find someone for fixing it if you know how to do? You sitted to your chair and all the needed things at your circle. Did you visit any 3rd class countries? Do you have any experience about it?

If I live US don't worry I can find many solutions w/out any discussions.